Full disclosure: I have never met a veggie burger that I like…never! Until now, that is. A few months ago, I had to create a veggie burger, on the fly, for a veggie burger battle on Beat Bobby Flay. Don’t ask me what made me grab mushrooms, quinoa and chickpeas off the pantry shelves, but I am glad that I did. It is a perfect combination of flavors and textures. This burger is delicious. It’s not a hamburger and never will be, but for those who no longer eat meat, I think it is a great alternative.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 4 hr 35 min |
| Active: | 55 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for frying
- 1 pound cremini mushrooms, stemmed, sliced 1/4-inch thick
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup Bobby’s BBQ Sauce or your favorite barbecue sauce
- 1 cup semi-loosely packed Quinoa, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup semi-loosely packed Chickpea Puree, recipe follows
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 large eggs (for egg wash), seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup quinoa flour, seasoned with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 thin slices smoked Gouda
- 4 soft sesame seed buns, lightly toasted
- Green Onion-Mustard Slaw, recipe follows
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup red quinoa
- One 15.5-ounce can chickpeas
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 4 tablespoons whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/4 head white cabbage, thinly sliced
- 3 green onions (green and pale green parts), thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium red onion, coarsely grated
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- 1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saute pan over high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the mushrooms and let sit for at least 3 minutes without touching. Stir and let sit again until mushrooms begin to brown and water begins to evaporate. Cook until golden brown and dry. Season with salt and pepper. Add the barbecue sauce and a splash of water and cook until the mushrooms are glazed, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and let cool to room temperature.
- 2. Combine the mushrooms, Quinoa and Chickpea Puree in a bowl. Mix in the cilantro. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if needed. (Remember that the quinoa was seasoned with salt, the mushrooms were seasoned with salt and pepper and the egg wash and quinoa flour will be seasoned). Cover the mixture and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.
- 3. Heat 2 inches of oil in a medium high-sided saute pan over high heat until it registers 350 degrees F on a deep-fry thermometer.
- 4. Form the burgers (using a ring mold) into 4 burgers (I got 4 burgers that were each about 4 1/8 ounces).
- 5. Whisk together the eggs in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Put the quinoa flour in a shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- 6. Using a fish spatula, gently put a patty into the egg wash; remove and let the excess drip off. Dredge the patty in the flour and tap off the excess. Repeat with the remaining patties.
- 7. Fry the patties until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes, flipping halfway through the cooking process. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.
- 8. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick pan over high heat until it shimmers. Add the patties and top each with a slice of cheese. Remove from the heat and slowly add 1/4 cup of water to the pan (careful not to hit the burger). Cover, return to the heat and count to 10. Remove the lid, the cheese will be melted.
- 9. Place the burgers on the bottoms of the buns, top with a large dollop of Green Onion-Mustard Slaw and drizzle with some of the reserved mustard dressing.
- Combine the salt with 1 cup of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the quinoa, bring to another boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook until tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, let sit for 10 minutes and fluff with a fork. Spread evenly onto a baking sheet and let cool completely. The quinoa can be made a day ahead and stored in a container with a tight lid.
- 1. Drain the chickpeas in a colander. Rinse and drain again. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and drain the chickpeas for at least 15 minutes.
- 2. Transfer the chickpeas to a food processor and process until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl.
- 1. Whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustards and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth.
- 2. Combine both cabbages and both onions in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the dressing and toss to combine. Season the slaw with salt and pepper and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and the cabbage to wilt. The slaw can be made 4 hours in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator. Reserve the remaining dressing for the burger.
Reviews
The patty was impossible to mold and kept falling apart. Made a complete mess and the mixture could’ve used spices to waken it up, so it was bland as well.
Best veggie burger ever! I ate one in Vegas so tasty and delicious!
Dear Bobby Flay, My dad went into Cardiac Arrest on March 18th. I write this because I am his daughter. He got sick last Father’s Day 2020. He has been in ICU to nursing homes. He is 74. Me and my 3 sisters thought we could care for him better at home. No one in the hospital or nursing home gave him attention. They often neglected him. Me and my three sisters trained in the ICU to understand his tracheotomy needs and tube feedings. Dad couldn’t talk due to his tracheotomy but when we asked him what he wanted to say (we asked him to write it down) He said BEAT BOBBY FLAY! He loved watching you! He has since had a Cardiac arrest which I had to perform CPR. Not sure his prognosis but he still widens his eyes when we mention your name! Please just a small act of kindness! He is such a good man and father! It means the world to me to make him happy even for a short time!
Awesome!
I cheated a little and used a microwavable packet of red quinoa and brown rice. I also elected to bypass the egg wash and flour step, and cooked the lovely, thick burgers in my air fryer at 360 degrees for 10 minutes then 5 more at 400, putting the gouda on toward the end of that cook time. They are delicious! I froze two of them so we’ll see how that works out! Thanks, Bobby!
Great veggie burger! I prepped most the day before so I could get together quicker on a week night. I made 1 in the air fryer and I think next time, I’ll make them all that way. Delicious!!!
Yummy, but a lot of work/prep. Bobby’s Veggie Burger recipe in his Bobby Fit cookbook has a lot of similarities to this one, except there is no gouda cheese, he does not make it on a bun (though it is pictured on a bun in the cookbook photo), and there is a mustard-green onion sauce, not a slaw. I just topped ours with lettuce, tomato, and sliced red onion. It was definitely yummy, and it was very filling. However, it took close to three hours with prep and cook time, and to me, that’s too much for a veggie burger!
This is great. Takes a bit of time so plan ahead. There are millions of ways to create a veggie burger – this is just one good option. If you don’t like, you can adjust for your preference. Recipes are tools meant to inspire you to adjust to your liking. E.g. If you don’t like BBQ sauce, glaze the mushrooms w something else etc.
This recipe was almost a complete fail. Followed the recipe exactly but burger mixture would not hold together and was almost impossible to dip in egg and dredge in flour. Did the best I could and managed to get three badly formed patties into the oil and cooked, while the fourth one completely fell apart in the pan. I’m an experienced cook so don’t think the problem resulted from anything I did. Definitely expect better from a Bobby Flay recipe. Very time-consuming and disappointing. Will never make again.
Eck! I still haven’t met a veggie burger I like. This recipe is awful with the exception of the mustard sauce. It is also time consuming. Don’t waste your time on this one.